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I’m not saying the Cardinals don’t have any players talented enough to make it. But usually, in seasons where your team is 11-3, there are at least a couple of locks. You would be hard-pressed to come up with any locks for the Cardinals. Offensively, the production hasn’t been consistent enough to see anyone getting a major push. Defensively, there are possibilities, but it’ll be interesting to see how many can find a way in, at least before guys start dropping out.

In the latest Pro Bowl voting numbers this week, it was interesting to see that safety Rashad Johnson — who I do agree has had a very good season for this team — has found his way into the top 10 among safeties. Johnson is eighth, and judging by those who keep tweeting that they want him to get even more votes, maybe Johnson can climb the ladder.

In fact, it’s only the secondary that is represented for the Cardinals right now, at least among the top 10 vote-getters at their positions. Patrick Peterson is eighth and Antonio Cromartie 10th among cornerbacks, while cornerback Justin Bethel is ninth among special teamers.

Now for some housekeeping items as the week comes to a close and the Cards get a mini-bye:

— Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali was fined $16,357 for hitting Cardinals QB Drew Stanton low in last week’s game. You remember the play, the one where it looked then for a split-second Stanton was lost for a long time. There have been a couple of those. Cardinals defensive tackle Tommy Kelly was fined the same amount for roughing Chiefs QB Alex Smith.

Chiefs safety Kurt Coleman, who decked wide receiver Smokey Brown by what looked like it might have been a possible helmet-to-helmet, was not fined. He wasn’t flagged for that play either.

— Bruce Arians wasn’t backing down from his comment after Thursday’s game, when he said “I love it when nobody says you’re going to have a chance to win. There’s an 11-3 team and a team that is always 8-8. You figure it out.” Many took it as a shot to the Rams — and obviously, it wasn’t a compliment — but I took it more as a jab against the media picking against the Cardinals in the game rather than the Rams themselves.

Not that it really matters. Asked why he made such a comment, Arians responded simply, “I just tried to state the facts.”

51 Responses
to “Pro Bowl, Rashad Johnson and some Friday notes”

Hey Darren, I can’t be more proud of the effort displayed by the Cardinals last night. That was amazing football. Wasn’t flashy, but it was smash mouth, grind it out, Arizona Cardinals football! Running game and O-line were pretty great too. About the Stanton injury… I have two questions. 1. I know there isn’t a time table, but is there any chance Stanton plays against Seattle? 2. There is a lot of talk about Kurt Warner coming out of retirement. I’ve been listening to the radio all day (call me old fashioned if you will), but Warner was called twice today and never once did he say that he wouldn’t return. He even said his family was saying he should maybe make a return and he says he’s in great shape and can still throw the football. The only thing he said he was worried about is coming in and messing up and making it where the Cardinals don’t reach the Super Bowl. So what do you think about the situation? You think maybe, just maybe he’d come around? Maybe Steve Keim works his magic? What is your take on the whole Warner situation.

I mean. I’m not saying Kurt has to come in and perform at a high level, he can play average just like Stanton and get the job done with how great our defense is. And I mean, why not? We’re going to the playoffs, we have a chance to win the west, chance to win the first seed. And we have more weapons now than we did before back in 2008 and 2009. The O-line is better, the run game is better, and the defense is absolutely amazing. And I mean, what better option do we have?

What I find interesting is that when Kurt was being asked about helping out the Cardinals by Bickley and Marotta, he never once said, “No.” They even asked him if Keim were to call him how would that conversation go. His response was that he didn’t know. I think he is on the fence. The one thing Kurt kept saying over and over was that he didn’t want to be the reason the Cards lose. This did not sound like a “no” to me. It sounded like he was trying to temper expectations on his performance. We wouldn’t need the “old Kurt” we would just need him to be competent. The thing we need now is for Steve and Mr. Bidwill to take a drive to the Warner house.

This is crazy stuff, but the fact that Kurt is entertaining the thought tells me there is more than a possibility to making this a reality.

Is there any evidence that Kurt Warner seriously made claims of opening the door to returning to the Cards for the playoffs? I think not. It concerns me when such talk is thrown out there like it’s valid.

I love BA but he doesn’t want to cross the line into sounding like Buddy Ryan. BA was very complimentary to the Rams defense before the game.
Bottom lline. would BA have made the same comments if we had another game with the Rams this year?

Warner coming back and leading us to a Super Bowl win, but what if he get’s us close and Stanton comes back, do we then snub Stanton or Warner? And what would that do to his nomination for the Hall of Fame. Then again, if he led us to a Super Bowl win, what better candidate would there be, ever for the Hall of Fame.

Fun to dream about parallel worlds where Warner does come back (then again, I’d also love to see the parallel world where we don’t have injuries for the season.)

some of you guys that are putting Lindly on Facebook don’t remember that when he played he did not have a offensives line nor Kob Skeleton Houer lets see what AD does and hope for the best he can bring the bet of each player that is why the Card are where they at

Continuing my quest to get an opinion from you about who the Cards’ will choose to replace Bowles WHEN he takes a Head Coaching job, I’ve listed the Assistant defensive coaches currently on the staff of Bowles. I realize that you won’t want to give an opinion, but I’ll try anyway.

BA and Bowles have assembled a defensive staff that have extensive experience at the college and NFL levels. Here is the list of those assistants, from the Roster link.

My guess is that the most likely, based on experience, are (alphabetically):
Caldwell, Jones, Rapone and Ross.

I would think that Keim and BA have already had some conversations about this subject.

James Bettcher
Outside Linebackers
He is in his third season in the NFL after serving as special assistant to the head coach with the Indianapolis Colts in 2012.

Brentson Buckner
Defensive Line
Veteran NFL defensive lineman Brentson Buckner enters his second season with the Cardinals and second year as an NFL assistant after joining the team as defensive line coach on 2/5/13.

Mike Caldwell
Linebackers
Mike Caldwell enters his second season as linebackers coach, his second stint in Arizona after playing the same position with the Cardinals in 1997. He joined the Cardinals as an assistant on 2/5/13 after a five-year coaching tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles (2008-12).

Amos Jones
Special Teams Coordinator
A veteran of seven seasons as an NFL assistant in addition to working 21 seasons as a college assistant.

Tom Pratt
Pass Rush Specialist
Veteran assistant coach Tom Pratt enters his second season with the Cardinals as pass rush specialist and 36th season in the NFL after being hired on 2/5/13. Only Pittsburgh’s Dick LeBeau (42nd season) and Cleveland’s Jimmy Raye (37th season) have more experience among active NFL coaches.

Nick Rapone
Defensive Backs
Long-time college coach Nick Rapone (ruh-pone) enters his second season with the Cardinals and second year in the NFL after he joined Arizona as defensive backs coach on 2/5/13.
Rapone, a veteran of 35 seasons as a coach, including 30 as a collegiate assistant, joined the Cardinals in 2013 after spending the previous seven years (2006-12) at the University of Delaware as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach.

Kevin Ross
Cornerbacks
Former Pro Bowl defensive back Kevin Ross begins his second season with the Cardinals as cornerbacks coach after he joined the team on 2/5/13. A 14-year NFL veteran as a player, Ross enters his ninth season as an assistant coach after previous jobs with Oakland (2010-11), San Diego (2007-08) and Minnesota (2003-05)

And, the man that will have to be replaced:

Todd Bowles
Defensive Coordinator
14-year NFL assistant who has also coached with the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins during his career.

Served as interim head coach for the Miami Dolphins for the final three games of the 2011 season, posting a 2-1 record.
In his first year in Arizona, the Cardinals had the NFL’s 6th ranked defense and No. 1 ranked run defense. They allowed the fewest rushing yards in team history for a 16-game season (1,351 yards), had 47.0 sacks (3rd in team history) and 30 takeaways (tied for 6th in NFL), including 20 INTs (5th in NFL).
• Played defensive back in the NFL for eight seasons with the Washington Redskins (1986-90; 1992-93) and San Francisco 49ers (1991).
• Played collegiately at Temple (1982-85) where he was a team captain under head coach Bruce Arians in 1985.

Off subject…All the talk about back loading the divisional games. Why is it that the Cardinals had three strait and that Green Bay only had 1 in their last 5 games. Is that really fair with the “intension” in mind?

It seems with all the excitement created by the team’s success this year, the Superbowl being in Phoenix, that many have forgotten about the ProBowl and the fact that it will be held here too. Many aren’t interested in taking the time to vote because of the Superbowl or Nothing mantra, and while that is something we all would love, it’s important to recognize the hard work, talent, and contributions to the sport of football, that our players individually. Fans seem to be polarized about the Probowl and many don’t get it or think it matters but how often when we get a new player do fans check their creds on Wikipedia? Being a Probowler is kinda like a grade card of sorts and while the fan vote only counts 1/3, if our fans don’t support the players then we can’t really complain if none get recognized. The fan vote is not a sure thing but apathy speaks volumes. We have great guys whose incredible talent has gotten us to 11-3 and they deserve our votes as much as BA deserves Coach of the Year.

I may be driving a Super Bowl or nothing mantra (hopefully there are others that feel as I do), but I’ve been in on the voting for the Pro-Bowl.

I think it’s hard for a team decimated by injuries to be voted for.

Think about it, Palmer was on there when I first voted, but now he’s out for the season and no longer having a Pro-Bowl season. Stanton wasn’t on there when I first voted, but is on the ballot now, with only half a season so how’s he going to be voted for AND he’s out for the season now as well.

What Arizona QB is going to be voted for? Or other positional players?

Stephan Taylor is on there now, but how’s he going to crack the top ten, he’s not been widely used until Ellington went down and at this point in the season, he could have a two hundred yard game against Seattle AND against San Francisco and wouldn’t be recognized for Pro-Bowl because his body of work is just not enough.

Darren’s said it before, with all the injuries and the coaching staff philosophy of spreading the ball and the plays around, personal stats go out the window so to speak and let’s face it, Pro Bowl is mostly about personal stats.

Should we be voting, yes. I’m not going to be hung up on it though, Keim is picking the best players for our Cardinals to be champions for years to come, he’s not picking a team of Pro-Bowlers, he’s picking a winning combination.

He was on the radio several times yesterday stating his opinion and never once said no. And he said if Steve were to call him he doesn’t know how the conversation would go. Warner is on the fence and I strongly believe he is considering a comeback. Is the possibility high? No, sadly… I think not. But you’re saying there’s a chance… Warner has talked about making this come back, but again. He never once said no. That he absolutely wouldn’t.

Warner is retired PERIOD!! That’s a dash on the hopes of cardinals fans. HOPE is the only thing to keep me going as a CARDS fan all these years. KEEP IT ALIVE! I originally came from CALI as a kid. I watched Jake Plummer at the rose bowl, hand off, then go in the endzone. TOUCHDOWN!!!! Weeeeee! Cards drafter him, and I was instantly a fan from that day forth….We have had many bad years .

KURT WARNER… its ok if you mess up, or do shitty. At least you tried!!!!!!!
I know he doesn’t want to tarnish his story book ending, but this is a far cry from coming out of retirement for the money. Its because we NEED YOU!!!!!! DO that right thing, TEAM IS WHAT IT TAKES!!! You have a great team behind you. We only need a football manager to win this.

I think that other than Calais who’s snubbed every year, some of the biggest reasons our Cardinals players are not being voted for is:

1. Very little tape on highlight reals because the National Media doesn’t like our team, so little exposure of our players for fans outside of Cardinals fans. (twelve minutes of Cowboys footage, win or lose and 1.5 minutes of Cardinals footage. It’s good for us when we play the Cowboys, we get seen.)

2. Next man up – we’ve been decimated by injuries, how many of our Pro-Bowl candidates at season’s beginning our on IR. Our IR team could possibly have a 10+ win season.

3. Our coaches spread the ball around on offense and the plays around on defense. We don’t have one or two go-to guys, we have a team and what would have happened to our “next man up” philosophy when our go-to guy(s) are injured, we wouldn’t be sitting at 11-3 for sure. We’d be trying to claw our way back in like Seattle’s doing right now.

4. Fantasy football does have an impact on Pro-Bowl voting and when we have fifteen different targets in a game and the Lions/Cowboys/Packers/anyone else have three targets per game, fantasy numbers hurt our Pro-Bowl chances.

I can’t even vote for M. Leach or D. Buchannon. Or some others. I can’t vote for Palmer (who most think is our best QB), but I can vote for Stanton, but will I get to vote for Lindley after next weeks game?

Injuries and spreading plays around and media attention(read name recognition, just like political votes, name recognition is KEY) have made the Cardinals somewhat irrelevant in Pro-Bowl fan voting.

Unless someone were to try and get a campaign where everyone on this site and everyone family and friends and all their family and friends (it’s voting, we’d need grass roots and in most elections even that’s difficult, because like clssylssy stated – apathy) then our Cardinals won’t have much of a shot.

But we’re Super Bowl bound, so they can be voted in and have the accolades of Pro-Bowl status and not play in the game.

Kevin S Mesa…
And then there was the fact that the Rams also have beaten the Broncos, Seahawks and 9ers so aside from it “just” shutting out the Raiders and Redskins, they actually have some credible wins! I would say that makes our win that much more impressive even without a TD! Good defensive games in football may not be as glitzy but they are just as thrilling for the real football fan…kinda like watching a no hitter in baseball. For some, that is like watching paint dry but for a real baseball fan, it’s pretty awesome!

I know this is kind’ve a strange question / comment: But I find it strange Palmer has not been with the team on the sidelines for games (like Dockett has for example). Why is that? I mean, he was a team captain and seemed like a legit leader on the team. Where is that guy? I find it disappointing he seems to have checked out. Would he not be helpful for Drew (or whoever) to be around?

As much as I want to see the return of Kurt… The problem is he doesn’t know the playbook….. The only two now who do are Lindley and Thomas and that makes all of the difference in a QB selection…… If Thomas could play like his first pre-season start, it would be a plus. Personally, I think Lindley will start as he has more experience.

The run game has improved at a crucial time. with Taylor and Williams…..

Since the BA era started the Cards are 21-9. In the last nine games last year and the 14 games this year… the Cards are 20-5. The Bronco’s and Patriots have the same record during that time period.
Despite these numbers, the Cards are all but IGNORED by the NFL Football Analysts. I was laughing when the analyst including our own- Josh Weinfuss, all picked the Rams over the Cards….. If the Cards go to the SB and win… the Analyst will say Manning or Brady had a bad day…. not giving any credit to the Cards for beating them….
The Cards are the bastard step child of the NFL that no one wants to talk about…..
I could care less as long as they keep on winning….

Warner is on the fence? Is considering a comeback? There is no evidence of that. Arians responded to the “news” jokingly. Everyone is trying to pick apart ever word in the hopes he might come back. Sounds like a presidential run. What makes you think BA would want him at this juncture?

Darren –
With our defense playing such a big part in the outcome of each game it would be interesting to know some of the stats of the D players. Would it be possible to give the number of sacks and interceptions (and any other category you think important) for each D player? Thank you.

I can understand why I received thumbs down for my post about Bowles’ replacement.
1) The subject was off-topic
2) It was a distraction with two games to go and the NFC West Championship and the playoff seeding still in doubt.
3) It was long
4) No one wants to think about Bowles leaving (yet).
5) Some “voters” don’t want Bowles to leave.
6) Some “voters” disagreed with my possible in-house replacements for Bowles.
7) Some “voters” want a replacement from outside the Cards’ coaching staff.
8) Some “voters” don’t like my posts for whatever reason.

That’s OK. I’m a big boy and can handle the rejection. 🙂

In any case, at some point soon, this subject will be a hot topic.i.e. immediately after the Super Bowl (which I hope the Cards win) or immediately after the Cards are eliminated.

everyone should just step back and think about this for a moment. How would you expect Lindly to complete any passes when he did not take one snap in practice? These QB’s practice timing routes with their receivers all year throwing hundreds of passes to them and practicing reading defenses. while working on timing. This kid had zero chance to show anything on Sunday and probably will have a very limited playbook for the seahawks. I can’t see how we beat them with a very limited playbook unless we can force 3 or 4 turnovers. Heck the last game we had 7 sacks and still lost.

Dynosar…
You made some good points about the ProBowl and I agree with you. The way our coaches spread the ball around hurts individual stats, which, while good for the game, played Cards style, hurts the players because these days it’s all about stats and fantasy football…Right? The ProBowl is technically a media honor and the fan vote only counts 1/3, but nonetheless anytime a fan can vote as many times as they want…what’s the point..seems rigged? I know in years past individual bloggers who have been “rewarded” with NFL merchandise, etc. for campaigning for a certain player(s)(another team) which kinda made me skeptical, still we had players get in, because it is a recognition thing and it isn’t solely a popularity contest, players and coaches carry a big say. We DO have players whose body of work is ProBowl worthy and it’s these guys who have the best chance of getting in because they have showed to be solid players,not one hit wonders, and have contributed to the success of their team and the sport. The younger guys like Stephan Taylor are just getting started and with the momentum the team has begun to build, have a better future because of the name recognition they are beginning to get.
Again, we come back to respect and the fact that the Cards haven’t managed to get that with the national media when we are one of the oldest franchises in the NFL(but not the valley). The Cardinals are transplants to the valley who didn’t even have their own stadium until 2006, which, many “natives” considered an indicator that it was some kind of experiment, not to be taken seriously; if the locals can’t take the team seriously why should anyone else? However, players like Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald changed that a lot and became football heroes not only to the people in the valley but across the country, representing old values of good sportsmanship and achievement of goals through hard work. Coaches Ken Whisenhunt and Horton changed how people looked at the Cards and changed our football culture here in the valley by taking the team to the SuperBowl! They started something that Coaches Arians/Bowles have built upon.
I applaud you for being such a cheerleader and leading the charge of “The Lombardi or Nothing” however, I believe we should do what we can to show support to the players who have done the work, because, without them there would be no Coach of the Year and the Lombardi wouldn’t be within our grasp.

Robert..
I believe that Ryan Lindley did go up to Fitz’s camp, as well as. being with us in training camp as well as having some experience playing in real NFL time with this organization..he understands the mentality or philosophy and has grounded relationships with the team. BA is known as something as a “QB whisperer” and will have time to work with him in the next few weeks intensively. Stanton will be back so this is just a short term assignment and with the talent around hm, should be OK if he gets the proper support. Sometimes we just have to have some faith because these are the Cards that have been dealt. We either know how to hold em or know how to fold em… folding is not an option!

Hey Darren–Hope all is cool! Going to be a 49ers fan for the day. Great win for the Cards on Thursday. The defense and special teams played really well. I was concerned about the special teams in that game but they really came through. The Cards coaching staff just continues to get the most out of their guys. They did win the turnover battle in that game and I think that is going to be their formula going forward. Just don’t beat yourself offensively and hope your defense can create a few turnovers on their own. Thought Frostee, T-Kelly, and L Foote were strong in the Rams game and those 3 have been unsung all year. Hey Darren–The one guy that should make the Pro Bowl for the Cards is Bruce Arians!! The Pro Bowl should reward Coach of the Year winners!! He has to win Coach of the Year–Don’t you think???? Not even close–To do what he has done with all the adversity is really something!

it’s good to know we’re on the same page with the Pro-Bowl (at least it sounds like we are). I wonder if there are people who will vote a hundred times a day for their players. I’m glad the fan vote is only one third, because then it takes out the “vote as often as you can.” Then again, if we feel our players deserve to be in the Pro-Bowl, maybe we should be a hundred times a day voter. (I’ve personally only voted a handful of times.)

It is nice to have our game out of the way, we can root for some teams (Atlanta, Miami, San Francisco) without being so worried about the outcome.

We and the Patriots are the only true teams that control our destiny completely. All other teams only control a part of their destiny (because even though the media is saying Seattle controls their destiny, without us losing they can only be a wild card And without us And the Packers losing they can not be the number one seed. we are the only team that completely controls their destiny in the NFC.)

The Lombardi trophy or nothing at all!

(Well, the Lombardi trophy and earning Pro-Bowl status for many of our players would just be the cake and icing on top.)

did you see the NFL network article with the following quotes and info from Kurt Warner?

“I tell you what. It’s funny. I’ve actually thought about it,” the Super Bowl winning passer said. “Because you guys, we talked about it at the game, is how bad I felt for the Arizona Cardinals and if they lost their quarterback again, that I actually contemplated…”

It must be tempting for Warner, especially when so many people have asked him about it and believe he could be a savior for a Cardinals team that clearly needs a boost at quarterback.

But earlier this week, Warner was approached by head coach Bruce Arians who got the feeling that it just wasn’t going to work out. Despite the dream scenario lingering in Warner’s mind, it seems like there is a healthy amount of hesitation, too.

If Warner did return and throw for a few games, would he still be Hall of Fame eligible this season or would he be shelved for another five years before being eligible again?

How does being approached to lead a team after five years of retirement play into his possibility of being a first round pick, does it improve his stock?

If he did come back and we continued winning games with him behind center, who get’s benched when Stanton is well again, Stanton or Warner? Assuming it’s Stanton, what does that do to him. Assuming it’s Warner, what does that do for him (Hall of Fame nominee and all)

The Cardinals need something to happen early Sunday. A turnover giving us the ball in Seattle territory, a special teams return, or a big passing play. Get an early lead and I think anything is possible… Seattle’s D has been amazing of late but their offense has been 20 points or less 4 out of the last 5 games. Get a lead and try to grind out some clock. Take the play clock down near 0 on every play.

If we fall behind early by 10 or more, I don’t think Lindley can bring us back.

Some have criticized Arians for not deferring when winning the toss. It hasn’t bothered me… but in this game, I would say yes, kick it away. Get the Red Sea standing up immediately and making noise, instead of starting with a crowd-deflating 3-and-out and punting to the Seahawks 40 or so, which is a high probability for Lindley’s first possession.